MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

Dark personality test to avoid mis-hires in companies

Mettl, a Gurgaon-based talent assessment company, recently launched a 'Dark Personality' test that measures dark side of people on six dark traits. The test still is in its beta phase and currently has 50 customers including schools, MNCs and even real estate firms that use this test for new hires and existing employees.

The six traits that the test identifies are: Opportunism, Insensitivity, Self-Obsession, Thrill-Seeking, Temperamental and Impulsiveness. It is a simple question and answer test that tells if the trait is present at low, moderate or high levels. A dark trait is a cause of concern at moderate to high levels only."Being dark is human but not safeguarding and trying to prevent it from harming others is inhuman," says Tonmoy Shinghal, co-founder and COO of Mettl.

According to Dr Snigdha Rai, psychometric consultant at Mettl, companies have traditionally used psychometric tests to assess competences, tests to identify a person's strengths. What has changed now is companies want to evaluate their weaknesses, too, to prevent any issue of workplace harassment and counter-productive behaviour.

Mis-hires can cost a company millions of dollars, not to forget a tarnished reputation and distrust from customers. Recent incidents at Volkswagen, Uber are all case in point here. As organisations become flatter, each role, whether it is a CXO or a mid-manager becomes equally important. And therefore companies are showing more caution in hiring for all levels. It is not just about an employee's efforts to meet company's goals but also their contribution in creating a healthy, happy, safe and productive work culture.

"The test is not a tool to identify employees with dark traits and fire them. Every human has their dark side. The idea is to identify these traits that are averse in existing employees and correct it with timely interventions," says Rai. For instance, if a person is rated as being impulsive and made aware of this, they can self-check and self-correct. The company also trains and coaches their clients on how to use this test and leverage it to make workplace more efficient.

As business processes are getting disrupted and traditional skills are no longer relevant leading companies to hire for the right attitude. "A person's assessment has three pillars and companies are now giving equal importance to all - technical, psychometric and cognitive," she adds.

What has worked is technology has helped reduced the cost of assessment tests, enabling organisations to do such evaluations on a company-wide level, says Shinghal.